Gymnasts from five nations took titles in the first day of finals at the World Challenge Cup in Baku, held Saturday in the Azerbaijani capital. Pictured: China's Liu Rongbing won the parallel bars title.

Gymnasts from five nations took titles in the first day of finals at the World Challenge Cup in Baku, held Saturday in the Azerbaijani capital.

Built for the 2015 European Games, the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku attracted athletes from 23 nations for the second edition of the FIG World Challenge Cup, dubbed the AGF Trophy 2017 by the Azerbaijani Gymnastics Federation. The competition for individual events is part of the 2017-18 FIG World Cup apparatus series and is separate from the all-around World Cup series. An all-around World Cup is taking place this weekend in Stuttgart, marking the first time two FIG World Cups in artistic gymnastics were held simultaneously.

Olympic champions Oksana Chusovitina (Uzbekistan) and Eleftherios Petrounias (Greece) were golden Saturday, with Chusovitina winning the women's vault title and Petrounias untouchable on still rings.

Chusovitina averaged 14.333 for her layout handspring front full (14.366) and 1 1/2-twisting Tsukahara vaults (14.300) to defend her vault title from last year's inaugural event. The 41-year-old Chusovitina, who is showing no signs of calling it quits after seven Olympic Games, will be inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in May — the first gymnast to be inducted before retirement.

2012 Australian Olympian Emily Little won the silver with a 14.067 average for her double-twisting Yurchenko and full-twisting Tsukahara. Little, who also qualified to beam and floor finals in Baku, also took second at the World Cup in Melbourne last month. Slovenian veteran Teja Belak won the bronze with a 13.750 average.

First-year senior Diana Varinska (Ukraine) won uneven bars, showing off the beautiful lines associated with the Ukrainian school of gymnastics. Varinska was the top gymnast in Thursday's qualifications, where she and other gymnasts appeared to be struggling under the spotlight setting used only on the first day. In qualification, Varinska had a break in her routine and dismounted with only a layout flyaway, but went all out in Saturday's finals (inside Stalder; Komova II, Pak; Maloney, uprise full, giant, Tkatchev to mixed grip to straddled front flip; full-twisting double; 13.933/6.0 Difficulty). Varinska, who turns 16 next Wednesday, is her country's top women's hope for the new quadrennium.

Australians Rianna Mizzen (13.600/6.0) and Georgia-Rose Brown (13.366/5.2) finished second and third, respectively, behind Varinska to give Australia three medals for the day.

Petrounias, the world and Olympic champion, was unbeatable on his specialty, earning a 9.166 Execution for his winning routine (15.466/6.3). Japan's Kazuyuki Takeda won silver (14.766/6.1) over Ukraine's Yevgen Yudenkov (14.233/6.1).

Asia ruled parallel bars, with the same gymnasts from qualification going 1-2-3. China's Liu Rongbing won the gold medal (15.133/6.4) over teammate He Youxiao (14.866/6.4). Liu, who turns 26 on Tuesday, is still looking to crack his way onto China's main team after serving as alternate for China's teams to the 2016 Olympic Games and the 2014 and 2015 world championships. Shogo Nonomura, a member of Japan's silver medal-winning team at the 2014 Worlds, won the bronze behind He (14.700/6.3).

The German women and Japanese men topped qualification Friday at the DTB Team Challenge in Stuttgart, which is being held in conjunction with this weekend's World Cup event.

Kim Bui (Germany)

Friday's competition featured seven women's teams and 16 men's teams, including two German teams in each category. The top six men's teams and the top four women's teams advance to this weekend's team finals.

Stuttgart's own Kim Bui led Germany 1 to the top spot in the women's competition, edging out Russia 160.200-159.800. Spain qualified in third (151.050), a point ahead of Germany 2 (150.050).

Bui, who was second all-around at the American Cup two weeks ago, competed three events, scoring 13.650 on vault, 14.150 on uneven bars and 13.350 on floor exercise. Teammate Michelle Timm had the top score on vault with 13.800, where Germany 1 scored the top team total (41.000) on any event. Two-time Olympian Elisabeth Seitz, Bui's teammate at MTV Stuttgart, earned 13.450 and 13.000 on balance beam. Germany was the only team to put up four scores above 13 on beam for the best team total there of 39.700.

"We have done very well today," said German women's head coach Ulla Koch. "The girls of Team I showed some very good exercises. The younger ones from Team II didn't do quite as well, but we still managed to make the final. In this respect, I am satisfied."

Amélie Föllinger had the top score on floor exercise (13.400) to help Germany 2 grab the final spot to the women's team finals ahead of Switzerland (146.350), Portugal (134.700) and Singapore (132.150).

Japan led the men's qualification with 247.900, topping Germany 1 (245.800) and Switzerland (245.800). Great Britain (245.400), Russia (245.250) and Spain (245.150) all advanced to the finals.

The young Japanese team – comprised of four gymnasts born in 1996 and one born in 1997 — impressed with the top team totals on floor exercise (42.050) and still rings (42.500). Germany 1 posted its best total, 43.850, on parallel bars, with 14.850s from Marcel Nguyen and Philipp Herder.

Oliver Hegi's 14.300 helped Switzerland take the top score on high bar with 41.950. Great Britain outscored the field on pommel horse (41.250), with a 14.400 from James Hall. Teammate Courtney Tulloch had the best score on still rings (14.750).

On parallel bars, Russia posted the highest score on any event with 44.500, where Dmitry Lankin (15.050) and Vladislav Polyashov (15.000) posted the only scores above 15.000 of the competition.

The Netherlands just missed the men's team finals, finishing seventh. Belgium, which had the best team total on vault (42.450), finished eighth ahead of Germany 2.

The FIG World Cup series continued Thursday with the first day of qualification at the World Challenge Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, where several new names managed to impress alongside their veteran competitors.

The FIG World Cup series continued Thursday with the first day of qualification at the World Challenge Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, where several new names managed to impress alongside their veteran competitors.

Gymnasts from 23 countries have gathered at Baku's beautiful National Gymnastics Arena for the second edition of the FIG World Challenge Cup, dubbed the AGF Trophy 2017 by the Azerbaijani Gymnastics Federation. The competition for individual events is part of the FIG World Cup series.

The lineup boasts several world and Olympic medalists, and the event is serving as the big first test for several gymnasts now eligible to compete among seniors. The gymnasts, who marched out in divided rotations of only four gymnasts, competed in a darkened arena with spotlights, giving the competition an atmosphere of an exhibition.

Uzbekistan's Oksana Chusovitina — the most experienced gymnast of all at 41 — was the top gymnast on vault. Chusovitina, the defending champion from the 2016 Baku World Challenge Cup, qualified first over Australian veteran Emily Little and Azerbaijan's Marina Nekrasova.

First-year senior Diana Varinska, a tremendous talent who has emerged as a bright hope for Ukraine, was the top gymnast on uneven bars despite a flawed routine: inside Stalder; Komova II to Pak; Maloney uprise full pirouette; Tkatchev to mixed grip to straddled front flip (large break and stopped routine) and ended with a simple layout flyaway dismount.

Varinska's score of 13.366 (7.666 Execution score for 5.7 Difficulty) was still enough to top a field where most of the gymnasts struggled. Olympic finalist Shang Chunsong, who fell on her Maloney, scored only 5.433 in Execution for seventh.

Chinese first-year senior Wang Cenyu fell on her layout Jaeger to take second (13.100/5.9) behind Varinska. Australian gymnasts Georgia-Rose Brown (13.000/5.1) and Rianna Mizzen qualified third and fourth to the finals.

One new name in Baku comes via a familiar face: Ukrainian Olympian Angelina Kysla is now Angelina Radivilova following her marriage to fellow gymnast Igor Radivilov. Radivilova qualified fifth to the uneven bars finals (fall on dismount).

European champion and world medalist Alexander Shatilov, third at last year's AGF Trophy, qualified sixth (13.700/5.5). His teammate Artyom Dolgopyat was injured on his triple back and could not finish the routine. World medalist Rayderley Zapata (Spain), performed tucked and piked versions of his new skill (barani in, full out) but fell on his layout double-double to miss the finals.

Olympic champion Eleftherios Petrounias (Greece) qualified first on still rings, performing a nearly flawless routine for a 9.033 Execution score (15.333/6.3). His top rivals finished a half point behind. Japan's Kazuyuki Takeda was second (14.833/6.1) over Greece's Konstantinos Konstantinidis (14.733/6.0).

Qualification was also held for parallel bars — out of the Olympic order which normally would have seen pommel horse contested. China's Liu Rongbing (15.066/6.4) grabbed the top spot over teammate He Youxiao (14.600/6.4) and Takeda (14.433/6.2).

Competition continues Friday in Baku with the second day of qualification, which features three-time Olympic champion Cătălina Ponor (Romania) in the lineup for balance beam and floor exercise.

Japan's Hitomi Hatakeda and Team Canada won the Senior Cup on Friday as the 26th Annual International Gymnix began in Montreal.

Japan's Hitomi Hatakeda and Team Canada took the first titles on Friday as the 26th Annual International Gymnix began in Montreal.

This year's Gymnix event attracted more than 1,000 gymnasts from 15 nations to compete at Montreal's Claude-Robillard Sports Complex. In addition to age group competition, the international portion of the Gymnix competition is divided into four categories: Team Cups for juniors and seniors, and individual Challenges for juniors and seniors, plus a combined apparatus finals.

Montreal will also play host to the Canadian gymnastics championships at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex in May, and the world gymnastics championships in October at the Olympic Stadium. 2017 also marks the 375th anniversary of the city of Montreal and Canada's 150th anniversary as a confederation.

Friday evening's Senior Cup featured two teams from Canada, a team from Australia and a team from Japan, as well as seven-time Olympian Oksana Chusovitina (Uzbekistan) competing as an individual.

Hitomi Hatakeda won the Senior Cup all-around title (54.635), topping Olsen (53.401) and Moors (53.001). Hatakeda had the top scores on uneven bars (inside Stalder; Van Leeuwen; inside Stalder, blind to piked Jaeger; full-twisting double; 13.667) and floor exercise (tucked full-in; 2 1/2 to front full; double twist; double tuck; 13.600). She scored 14.234 on vault for a clean Yurchenko 1 1/2, and took her lowest score on beam for a rather hesitant exercise (punch front, side somi; switch half; ff layout; RO double tuck; 13.134). Hatakeda, who turns 17 in September, is the daughter of two-time Olympian Yoshiaki Hatakeda, a member of Japan's bronze medal-winning team from the 1992 Olympics. She trains at the Central Meguro Club alongside her younger sister Chiaki Hatakeda, one of Japan's brightest hopes for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Olsen, a finalist on vault at last summer's Olympic Games, vaulted a double-twisting Yurchenko (14.567) to tie Chusovitina (handspring layout front full) for the high score on vault. She earned the third-best floor score of the night (13.467) with the top difficulty score of 5.5 (tucked double-double; front to double tuck; piked full-in and triple twist).

Brooklyn Moors, younger sister of 2012 Olympian Victoria Moors, impressed with her elegance and polish on balance beam and floor exercise, where she had the second-best scores on both (punch front to sissone; split jump to side somi; front aerial to side aerial; front handspring to Rudi dismount; 13.367) and floor exercise (front double full to full; double front; 2 1/2 twist; 13.500).

Dave Brubaker, Canada's national team director, said he was happy with his team's showing.

"We had some great performances today," Brubaker said. "There's always room for improvement, but it's the beginning of the Olympic cycle and we're working towards Tokyo. Tomorrow is the junior competition and we're looking forward to seeing many new athletes in the competition. We've been focusing on process with the junior athletes through the national camp we hosted and are excited to see the results long term. We've great coaches and teams and are making big strides to win medals in 2020."

The competition continues Saturday afternoon with the Gymnix Challenge and Junior Cup.

Tabea Alt and Christopher Jursch led their squads to victory at the 12th National Team Cup, held Saturday in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Pictured: Olympian Pauline Schäfer had the top score on balance beam.

Tabea Alt and Christopher Jursch led their squads to victory at the 12th National Team Cup, held Saturday in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.

The competition among members of the national team is Germany's traditional start to the new season each year. This year's event gave Germany's top gymnasts a chance to compete under the new Code of Points before the DTB World Cup and Team Challenge, taking place March 17-19 in Stuttgart, and the European championships, April 19-23 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Alt and fellow Olympian Pauline Schäfer led Turn-Team Germany to victory with 160.500, topping MTV Stuttgart (150.450) and a squad from Deutsche Turnliga (148.150). Alt won the all-around despite a fall on beam on her RO, two-foot layout mount (54.500), followed by Schäfer (53.700). Emelie Petz of MTV Stuttgart, the 2015 and 2016 German junior national champion, finished third (52.450).

Alt had the top score in the women's competition with 14.350 on uneven bars (Stalder, toe-full to Maloney to Pak; Van Leeuwen; Stalder blind to piked Jaeger; double layout). Schäfer, the bronze medalist on balance beam at the 2015 World Championships, outscored the field on beam with 13.750 (switch leap mount; ff layout; switch ring; double turn; side somi-half; side somi; front aerial, split jump; wolf jump; side aerial; gainer layout dismount).

Two-time Olympian Elisabeth Seitz competed vault and bars only (fall on Stalder-piked Tkatchev). Seitz, 23, only recently returned to training following foot surgery in October, a training course with the German army and an internship at German television channel SWR. She also had a bad fall off uneven bars on Friday. "It was not clear if I could even compete at all," she said.

Women's head coach Ulla Koch said she was pleased with how the team looked, six weeks before the European championships in Romania. "The girls are on track," Koch said. "I'm feeling positive about the season."

In the men's competition, Jursch and Philipp Herder helped their team place first with 235.200. KTV Straubenhardt took second (230.650) over Deutsche Turnliga (227.250).

Ivan Rittschik (KTV Straubenhardt) was the top all-arounder with 78.450, one tenth ahead of Jursch (78.350) and Herder (77.850).

Two-time Olympian Marcel Nguyen had the two top scores of the men's competition, 14.600 on still rings and 14.500 on parallel bars.

Alt, Pauline Schäfer, Lukas Dauser and Herder will represent Germany at the DTB World Cup, the second of three all-around World Cups in 2017. Dauser competed at Saturday's American Cup in Newark, the first of the season.

Nguyen, Jursch, Nick Klessing, Sebastian Krimmer and Leonard Prügel will be one of Germany's two teams at the DTB Team Challenge in Stuttgart. Rittschik, Nils Dunkel, Alexander Maier, Felix Pohl and Felix Remuta will comprise the second German men's team in Stuttgart.

Four of Germany's Olympians are currently sidelined with injury. Andreas Toba is still recovering from the torn ACL he suffered on floor exercise at the Olympics in Rio. Andreas Bretschneider recently underwent shoulder surgery and is hoping to be back in time for this fall's world championships in Montreal. Olympic high bar champion Fabian Hambüchen, also suffering from a shoulder injury, will reportedly undergo surgery on Monday. Sophie Scheder, the bronze medalist on uneven bars in Rio, will miss the European championships due to a knee injury that will reportedly require surgery.

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